With less than a month to go before hundreds of tenants must leave, an L.A. Superior Court judge has denied a request to postpone evictions at Barrington Plaza.
Tuesday’s decision will allow real estate investment company Douglas Emmett, which owns the building, to proceed with mass evictions at the 712-unit high-rise apartment complex in West Los Angeles.
The Barrington Plaza Tenant Association had sought a preliminary injunction to stop evictions from moving forward until the court reaches a decision in their lawsuit, alleging that Santa Monica-based Douglas Emmett is abusing the state’s Ellis Act.
That law allows landlords to remove tenants in order to exit the rental business, but Douglas Emmett previously told LAist it plans to continue renting out Barrington Plaza after installing fire sprinklers.
“We are grateful to the court for this quick decision,” said Eric Rose, a spokesperson for Douglas Emmett in an email following the ruling. “We are not surprised that Judge Chalfant has denied the preliminary injunction motion requested by the Barrington Plaza Tenants Association, as we are in compliance with the Ellis Act and California State law.”
Coalition for Economic Survival executive director Larry Gross, who has been working with tenants to fight the evictions, said the Barrington Plaza residents were "disappointed" in the decision, but they planned to stay and "continue fighting these unjust evictions."
"The judge made it clear he was not in anyway ruling on the merits of the tenants’ case," Gross said in an email. "He also said that all the cases should be moved to Santa Monica court and heard before the same judge. This will increase our chances of being able to adjudicate this case, and all subsequent [unlawful detainer] cases, before the same Judge."
Hundreds face eviction
The situation at Barrington Plaza represents one of the city’s largest-ever mass evictions. Hundreds of residents are now scrambling to find housing in an expensive rental market with tight tenant screening and a severe shortage of affordable homes.
Douglas Emmett notified tenants in May that they must move out by Sept. 5, unless they qualify for a one-year extension due to age or disability. Under the city’s rent stabilization ordinance (RSO), the landlord is required to pay relocation assistance and Douglas Emmett says it has set aside $7.5 million for that purpose.
L.A. Superior Court Judge James Chalfant wrote in his decision that facing eviction poses significant harm to tenants. “However, these harms are undermined by their adequate legal remedies under the Ellis Act and RSO and the fact that they will have to move out of their units anyway,” he wrote.
Chalfant went on to say Douglas Emmett would be economically harmed by the court stalling the company’s renovation plans. “The balance of hardships favors the landlord,” he wrote.
Tenants suspect a ploy ‘to raise the rents’
For long-term tenants like Miki Goral, losing their housing feels like an injustice.
“I think they want to get people out of a rent-controlled building and be able to raise the rents,” said Goral, who moved into Barrington Plaza 34 years ago. “They are trying to set an example for other landlords throughout the city, that they can do the same kind of thing.”
Goral doesn’t own a car, and she likes living at Barrington Plaza because she can easily take a bus to her job as a UCLA librarian. She’s hoping to stay in the same area, but apartments in her neighborhood now rent for about $500 more per month than what she currently pays.
“I know I'll have to pay more,” she said.
For now, Goral has some time to find a new place. Because she’s over the age of 62, she qualified for a one-year extension. Unlike other tenants facing a Sept. 5 move-out, she’ll have until May 8, 2024.
Can repairs happen without evictions?
Like dozens of other high-rise apartment buildings constructed in L.A. between 1943 and 1974, Barrington Plaza lacks fire sprinklers because city code did not require them at that time.
Two major fires have broken out at the property over the last decade, the most recent of which resulted in the death of one resident.
In a court filing opposing any delays in eviction, lawyers for Douglas Emmett wrote, “Barrington Plaza will remain off the rental market for the next several years while the buildings undergo life safety improvements — a good thing for the safety and security of whatever future use is made of the buildings in light of two tragic fires that occurred on-site in the last ten years.”
Tenants believe the company could install fire sprinklers without forcing hundreds of people out of their homes. They say Douglas Emmett can use the city’s Tenant Habitability Program to proceed with repairs while maintaining tenancies.
